One Way or Another
by BabyBrown
Summary: Nick is gone and Gail is determined to find out where. Spoilers for the entire series. Title from Blondie.


Title: one way or another (oneshot)  
Characters: Luke and Gail (Mentions of Andy/Sam, Andy/Luke and Nick/Gail)  
Summary: Nick is gone and Gail is determined to find out where. Spoilers for entire series.  
AN: SURPRISE ONE-SHOT! (It's my bday but I wanted to give a gift to all of you wonderful readers and reviewers!)

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"Knock, knock." A quick set of raps against the door catch Luke's attention. He sighs tiredly when he sees the person responsible for them, quickly ejects the flash drive from his laptop and stuffs it into his bag. The last thing he needs is for Gail to start snooping on his computer when she thought he wasn't looking.

Gail stands in the open doorway to his office wearing a white shirt beneath an open purple jacket and a pair of dark blue jeans, clothes snug in _all_ the right places. This, along with hair falling down in soft waves, makes her distinctly feminine aura fill the room even more than usual. He wills himself to keep cool.

(Yes, he's noticed Gail _in that way_ before. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't. Gay, straight or asexual - Gail _commanded_ attention from all.)

_The best defense is a good offense_ immediately springs to mind.

"Go away." He says before packing up the last of his case files. The only way to deal with someone as..._dominant_ as Gail was to show them you're not easily manipulated.

"Now that's not very polite." She says, mouth pouting in fake hurt.

"Go away..._please_." Luke says with a smile, although it looks more like a grimace than anything else. Gail, of course, ignores him and walks in anyway.

"I heard today was your last day and I wanted to give you a present." Gail not-so-gently shoves a large plastic container at him, moving around to take a seat in his chair.

Handling the box like it's a live grenade, he frowns at her. "What's in the box?"

Gail sniggers into her hand, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "Don't worry, it's not a severed head or anything." She says, now swinging the chair side to side, an irritating squeak sounding from it. It's like she's doing everything she can to drive him crazy.

Luke rolls his eyes and grips the edge of the box. Pulling it open, he sees that inside the container are...

"Muffins?" A severed head would have been less of a surprise. "I didn't take you for the baking type." He says, still extremely confused.

"Then you'd be right. Chris made them for his little rugrat but I stole them," she says unapologetically. "Trust me, they are seriously the best muffins ever." Seeing two glaringly empty spots in the box, he can already tell where the missing muffins have disappeared to.

For a moment, just a moment, he feels a weird feeling bloom inside him. Getting a container full of muffins, even if they were illegally appropriated, is one of the nicest things to happen to him in the past couple months.

Sad?

_Extremely_.

But that's the way his life has been ever since he screwed things up with Andy.

Luke then realizes what these tasty treats probably mean and he slams the box down, causing a muffin to come jumping out. It probably would have been funny if he had been in a better mood...but he wasn't and so it isn't. Seemingly unaffected by his sudden comprehension, Gail calmly picks up the fallen muffin and begins to eat it. Carefully peeling away the paper wrapping, she takes a large bite and hums in delight.

"So good." She mumbles around a mouthful of baked deliciousness.

"Gail," his voice showcasing his obvious annoyance, "I'm _not_ telling you."

They have a brief eye staring contest - her eyes feigning false innocence, his determined in his resolve. She breaks first, the obvious desire to get information making her squirm.

"_Come on_ Luke! What's one itty-bitty detail just between us girls?"

Luke feels his jaw clench in irritation. Once she figured out her boyfriend was part of his task force, it suddenly became her mission to pester him for information, popping up in the most inappropriate places hoping she could shock the answers out of him. Once, she even popped into the men's room while he was in it. Hands still wrapped around his precious manhood, it was one of the most awkward moments of his life. Gail made sure to keep her eyes trained on his face, but the smirk on her lips let him know that she could look down at Luke Jr. if she wanted to. Luke wasn't sure whether he felt thankful for that small mercy, or offended that she chose not to look.

_And that is so not the point right now._

"Gail, what part of 'undercover assignment with absolutely no contact' don't you understand?" It's been three days since he's seen Andy and Collins, and he knows they would not touch base for at least a month while establishing their covers.

"I don't know, maybe the part where my boyfriend suddenly leaves without telling me because of _you_."

"Officer Collins is a grown man who chose to leave. I didn't force him to take this assignment." Luke's ears start to burn despite knowing he had nothing to feel guilty over. It was a side effect of growing up in a series of shitty foster homes, always being blamed for one thing or another he hasn't done.

"No, but you could have at least let him give me a heads up."

"_Again_, super secret task force. No one was supposed to know when and where it was happening. Would have kind of defeated the purpose of it being 'super secret.'" If it had been anyone else, his tone and glare would have been enough to scare them off.

But this is _Gail_ - she eats intimidation for breakfast.

"Oh my _god,_ stop saying 'super secret.' You're a detective, not James Bond." She says, rolling her eyes and biting into her muffin.

"Peck, drop it." He says, slamming the lid shut on a box of files. "You know what this job entails. You know that sometimes our personal lives need to take a backseat to the job. You're a legacy, you know that better than most." A fire lights behind her eyes and he gets the feeling he just brought up unwanted memories.

"And you know what else I know? _You_'_re_ so miserable, you want everyone else to feel the same."

Well. Seems like mentioning her family, _the legendary Pecks_, is a big no-no.

"That is not true." He frowns, unwanted guilt squirming in his stomach once again.

"Oh please, like you didn't get a little pleasure separating Sam and Andy?"

"Andy _asked_ for the job."

"How convenient. Just when Sam finally gets his head out of his ass, you give her the perfect opportunity to disappear. And I thought _I_ was a heartless bitch." He had to remind himself not to let her words get to him. Had to remind himself that she was just upset her boyfriend up and leaving without a word. Still, her assumption bothered him.

"I warned her about the details. I told her she would have to leave immediately. No goodbyes. Andy chose to leave anyway, just like Collins. Don't tell me you can't handle a little separation." He knows it's a low blow, but he can't help himself. Gail just gets under the skin and has been taking shots at him every time he wouldn't give her the information she wanted. Doesn't stop the guilt, rightly justified this time, from resurfacing the moment her face drops.

"It's not that. It's just..." Gail uncharacteristically hesitates, something he's not used to seeing her do. She's not one to censor her words. It's one of the things he grudgingly admires about her. While the past couple months have hardened him, a life in shambles can do that to a person, he still knows how to spot a delicate situation and act accordingly.

In this case, Gail's case, supportive silence was all she needed. It was something he learned months ago when they worked together to find her missing uniform. Some people needed gentle, or rough, prodding in order to open up, but that wasn't the way to help Gail. She was the kind of person who needed silence and space...but who also needed to know support was only an arm's length away if she needed it. Support in the form of no judgement made or cliched advice given. It was something they had in common.

"It's just the last time he left without telling me, it was before our wedding." Whatever he was expecting her to say, it sure as hell wasn't that.

Luke has no idea what expression his face is making, but it makes Gail laugh softly. "I know, crazy. We were engaged three years ago and planned a super classy Vegas elopement," she says, popping the '_p_' in '_elopement_.' "But then he enlisted and deployed to Afghanistan. All without telling me." A sardonic chuckle escaped her mouth. "Apparently he'd rather brave possible death or dismemberment than be married to me."

"And yet you got back together?" Considering the no bullshit vibes he got from her, the ones that say _no_ to second chances, he couldn't help but be curious. Gail just smiles, tosses the muffin wrapper into the garbage pail next to his desk.

"What can I say, I've got an ooey-gooey marshmallow center." Gail's face becomes quiet again, earlier joking put aside. "I just want to know he's okay."

Again with the big blue eyes. Luke swears, those eyes should be made illegal. Every time she aims them at him, he feels his resolve weakening more and more.

Sighing heavily, he runs a hand over the four day old scruff on his face. "If anything happens, anything _urgent_, I'll let you know okay? That's the best I can do." As the words leave his mouth, Luke feels a looming cloud of regret begin to hover over him. Promises don't sit easily with him, especially ones concerning his job.

"Thanks Luke." The small lurch in his stomach has nothing to do with her genuinely radiant smile, lips devoid of their usual red hue, making her look innocently sweet. Neither does the spot on his arm, where she rests her hand for a brief second, feel warmer than the rest of his body. He feels slightly stunned watching her walk out.

It isn't until she's left the room, taking her overbearing personality with her, that he realizes she just pulled a fast one on him. He realizes it when he goes to put some forgotten files into his bag and finds his flash drive is missing.

The flash drive containing all the information on Project Dakota - including Andy and Nick's whereabouts.

The thoughtful muffins. The forceful questions. The unexpected heart-to-heart. It had all just been an act to get him off guard.

To makes matters even worse, he realizes, with a ridiculous pang of betrayal, that she also took the rest of the muffins with her.

"Gail." He mutters angrily into the quiet room.

* * *

_Not sure if this is gonna be a standalone or if I'll write a companion fic to it. _  
_(LUKE AND GAIL JUST MAKE PLOT BUNNIES ERUPT IN MY BRAIN OKAY?)_

_Review please =)_


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